Thanks everyone, really helpful insights here! Overall, I'm hearing both sides on this and it sounds like it comes down to personal preference. I think I'm leaning toward the kit because it sounds like many of you had fun putting it together (and not suffered to save a few hundred dollars) but I'll sit on it a bit before making a final decision. I'm excited to join the Makergear club!

seanong wrote:Thanks everyone, really helpful insights here! Overall, I'm hearing both sides on this and it sounds like it comes down to personal preference. I think I'm leaning toward the kit because it sounds like many of you had fun putting it together (and not suffered to save a few hundred dollars) but I'll sit on it a bit before making a final decision. I'm excited to join the Makergear club!

I'll leave you with the "rule" that most people end up with -- build your second printer from a kit

Custom 3D printing for you or your business -- quote [at] pingring.org

Just think back to when you were a kid. Did you play with Lego, Erector sets, Lincoln Logs, Tinkertoys, or even Capsela? Kit.

When something breaks, do you open it up and take a look inside to see if you can fix it, even if you don't quite know what you are doing? Kit.

Is your workplace paying for it? Assembled

Do you call an electrician to change your light bulbs? Just don't bother.

I had the same questions, bought the kit, and was pleasantly surprised. It was just fun to put together and I would recommend it. I think the term "kit" is not the best way to describe it, as that brings to mind something built up from scratch. The M2 kit is mostly complete and requires very simple assembly with common hand tools and no soldering.

In the end, I was very happy to save the money and felt like I had just been paid $50/hr by doing it myself.

I went the kit route. Lots of fun and only took about four hours of actual work. I added a few more hours on because I like drinking and dicking around online. FYI: The current set of "Assembly Instructions" are much more of a general guide than you would think. Decent mechanical aptitude is required as well as the ability to understand what they meant, not what they typed. I found myself having to reference the exploded diagrams frequently due to rather poor picture quality on many steps.

All that said, I would buy the kit again. You know where everything is and why by the end of it.

Of course, the next time I do that I am taking a red pen to the "Instructions" and sending a copy back to them...

grievence wrote:yea i ended up having to go back and refer to the diagram version for some pieces.

all told mine took about 4 hours as well.... and at least half of that was fitting the damn nuts into the 3d printed parts ><

Heh. Yeah... So, you cannot do it with the nylocks but for the other ones just thread the nut part way onto the bolt and then press it in. (I like using both thumbnails for this.) Really helps with alignment and gives you a bit more to hold on to.